Gustave Edwards (August 18, 1878 – November 7, 1945) was an American composer, songwriter and film director. He also was a

vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatre, theatrical genre of variety show, variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comic ...

, organized his own theater companies and was a music publisher.

Early life

Edwards was the son of Morris and Johanna Simon. He was born Gustav Schmelowsky in Inowrazlaw, German Empire (present-day Inowrocław, Poland). His family boarded the steamship ''Spaarndam'' as steerage passengers; they arrived at the Port of New York on July 29, 1891, ending up in Williamsburg. During the day, he worked in the family cigar store, and in the evenings, he wandered looking for any sort of show business job. He found work as a singer at various lodge halls, on ferry boat lounges, in saloons, and even between bouts at the athletic clubs. As a very young boy, Edwards worked as a

song plugger A song plugger or song demonstrator is an individual who promotes music to musicians, record labels, and customers. Song pluggers work for a music publishing company or operate independently. The function of the role has evolved as advances in mu ...

at Koster and Bial's, at

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes refe ...

's theatre, and at the

Bowery Theatre The Bowery Theatre was a playhouse on the Bowery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Although it was founded by rich families to compete with the upscale Park Theatre (Manhattan), Park Theatre, the Bowery saw its most successful ...

. In those old vaudeville days, song publishers would often hire a very young boy to sit in the theatre, and immediately after a vaudeville star had sung one of the publisher's songs, the youngster would stand up in the audience, and pretending to be completely overcome by the song, break out in an "extemporaneous" solo of the same tune. In this way, the young Edwards would often sit in a balcony seat, and then stand and repeat a song that vaudeville stars such as Maggie Cline, Lottie Gilson or

Emma Carus Emma Carus (March 18, 1879 – November 18, 1927) was an American contralto singer from New York City who was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies in 1907. She frequently sang in vaudeville and sometimes in Broadway theater, Br ...

had just sung.

Career

In 1896, Edwards was 17 years old and appearing at Johnny Palmer's Gaiety Saloon in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, when James Hyde, a vaudeville agent, saw him performing. He booked a tour for Edwards and four other boys as The Newsboys Quintet act. In 1898, while performing in this act, Edwards wrote his first song, to a lyric by Tom Daly, "All I Want is My Black Baby Back". Edwards could not write music at that time, so he hired Charles Previn to write down the notes. May Irwin sang the song in her act, and helped to popularize it. While entertaining soldiers at Camp Black, during the Spanish–American War, Edwards met lyricist Will Cobb, and they formed "Words and Music", a partnership that lasted for many years. He was a vaudeville singer, and later had his own vaudeville company. He discovered

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and c ...

Elsie Janis Elsie Janis (born Elsie Bierbower, March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American actress of stage and screen, singer, songwriter, screenwriter and radio announcer. Entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as " the sw ...

, George Jessel,

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka App ...

, Georgie Price, Eleanor Powell,

Hildegarde Hildegarde Loretta Sell, known as Hildegarde (February 1, 1906 – July 29, 2005) was an American cabaret singer, who was well known for the song " Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup". Early life She was born Hildegarde Loretta Sell in Adell, Wis ...

Ray Bolger Raymond Wallace Bolger (; January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and stage performer (particularly musical theater) who started his movie career in the silent-film era. Bolger was a major B ...

, Sally Rand,

Jack Pearl Jack Pearl (born Jack Perlman; October 29, 1894 – December 25, 1982) was an American vaudeville performer and a star of early radio. He was best known for his character Baron Munchausen. Vaudeville and early films Born in New York, Pearl deb ...

, the Lane Sisters, and Ina Ray Hutton. He wrote the Broadway stage scores for "When We Were Forty-One", "Hip Hip Hooray", "The Merry-Go-Round", " School Days", "Ziegfeld Follies of 1910", "Sunbonnet Sue", and "Show Window". He founded the Gus Edwards Music Hall in New York, and also his own publishing company, then produced special subjects for films, and returned to vaudeville between 1930 and 1937, finally retiring in 1939. His chief musical collaborators included Edward Madden, Will Cobb, and Robert B. Smith. His other popular-song compositions include "Meet Me Under the Wisteria", " By the Light of the Silvery Moon", "I Can't Tell You Why I Love You but I Do", "Goodbye, Little Girl, Goodbye", "I Just Can't Make My Eyes Behave", "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again", "He's My Pal", "Way Down Yonder in the Cornfield", "In Zanzibar", "If a Girl Like You Loved a Boy Like Me", "Jimmy Valentine", "If I Were a Millionaire", "Laddie Boy" and " In My Merry Oldsmobile". Some other songs include "America Never Took Water and America Never Will", "Au Revoir", "Good Bye and Luck Be with You Laddie Boy", "He Long and Lean and Lanky", "Keep on A-Going", "Mothers of Men" and "My Rainbow Ribbon Girl".

Radio

In the 1930s, Edwards had a weekly program, ''School Days of the Air'', on KFWB in Los Angeles, California.

Family

Gus Edwards Gravesite in Woodlawn Cemetery

Edwards was the brother of composer Leo Edwards, music publisher and talent agent Ben Edwards, and vaudeville singer Dorothea Edwards. He was the uncle of Joan Edwards and Jack Edwards.

Film

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

played Edwards in a fictionalized version of his life in the 1939 film '' The Star Maker'', directed by

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893 – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the pr ...

. Edwards himself made few screen appearances, the most notable being '' The Hollywood Revue of 1929'', in which he performs as part of a vaudeville act. He also wrote all the music for ''The Hollywood Revue of 1929'', as credited in the closing credits of the production, with the exception of "

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...

" with lyrics by

Arthur Freed Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for ''An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals ...

and music by

Nacio Herb Brown Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American composer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the sc ...

. He also performs a specialty number: " Lon Chaney's Gonna Get You If You Don't Watch Out".

Recognition

Edwards was a founding member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

in 1914 and was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

in 1970.

Personal life and death

Edwards was married to the former Lillian Boulanger, who worked with him in putting on revues and cultivating performers. He died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California, on November 7, 1945, aged 66. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Broadway works

Note: All shows are

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

unless otherwise stated. *''Hodge, Podge & Co.'' (1900) - featured songwriter *'' The Wizard of Oz'' (1903) interpolated songs with Will D. Cobb **"Rosalie" **"I Love Only One Girl in the Wide, Wide World" **"The Tale of a Cassowary" **"Johnnie I'll Take You" **"I'll Never Love Another Love Like I Love You" *''The Medal and the Maid'' (1904) - featured composer for "In Zanzibar" *''When We Were Forty-one'' (1905) - composer (for twelve out of fourteen numbers) *''Breaking Into Society'' (1905) - co-composer and co-lyricist *''His Honor the Mayor'' (1906) - contributing composer and lyricist **Revived again in 1906, twice in 1907 *''The Blue Moon'' (1906) - featured composer for "(Don't You Think It's) Time to Marry" *'' A Parisian Model'' (1906) - featured co-songwriter for "I (Just) Can't Make My Eyes Behave" **Revived in 1908 *''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

of 1907'' (1907) -

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

- featured composer for "That's What the Rose Said to Me" and "On the Grand Old Sands" *''The Hired Girl's Millions'' (1907) - featured songwriter for "Where the River Shannon Flows" *'' Hip! Hip! Hooray!'' (1907) - composer *''The-Merry-Go-Round'' (1908) - composer (for all but three numbers) *''School Days'' (1908) - composer, co-lyricist, producer *''Miss Innocence'' (1908) - featured composer and lyricist for "What Kind of a Wife to Choose (What Kind of a Wife Does a Man Like Best)" *''

of 1909'' (1909) -

- featured composer for "My Cousin Caruso (from Miss Innocence)" from ''Miss Innocence'' and "Up! Up! Up! in My Aeroplane" *''

of 1910'' (1910) -

- co- bookwriter and featured composer for "Look Me Over Carefully (and Tell Me Will I Do)", "Sweet Kitty Bellairs", "Kidland", "Our American Colleges", "In the Evening (In de Evenin')", "The Black Cat", "A Woman's Dream", "Mr. Earth and His Comet Love (The Comet and the Earth)" and "The Waltzing Lieutenant" *''Broadway Sho-Window'' (1936) -

- composer, producer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

: *''Tintypes'' (1980) -

- featured songwriter

Filmography

*'' Climbing the Golden Stairs'' (1929) - Director

References

External links

* * *
By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Gus Edwards recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Gus 1878 births 1945 deaths American musical theatre composers Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States American male musical theatre composers People from Inowrocław People from the Province of Posen American vaudeville performers